I love this recipe (from Magimix Cookery). They say, "This is the most attractive vegetable dish and one that is very easy to make. Serve it with curries, roast meat or fish."Ingredients:
12 oz (350g) long grain or Basmati rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb (450g) fresh spinach (or 8 oz - 225g - frozen spinach)
1 small bunch parsley (or dried)
1 large onion
1 green chilli pepper (or 1/4 tsp dried chilli pepper flakes)
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I prefer cumin seeds, more fragrant when you've fried them)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala (not too much)
2 oz/50g butter
Method:
* Cover rice with enough cold water to come 3/4 in. (2 cm) over the top of the rice, add 1/2 tsp salt, stir well, bring slowly to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Stir well, to beat air into the grains, return the cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes by which time the rice should be tender and fluffy and all the water should have been absorbed. (I just boil the rice in lots of water for 10 mins, no measuring involved, drain and rinse with boiling water. Always perfect rice)
* Remove any tough stalks from the parsley. (I never bother; in fact, I use a ton of dried parsley. Seems to work!)
* Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic.
* Remove the seeds from the chilli pepper. (flaked red pepper easier)
* Cook the spinach until just tender and drain well.
* With Magimix double-bladed knife: process the parsley until finely chopped and remove. (if you've used fresh parsley)
* Process the onion, garlic and chilli until finely chopped.
* Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, garlic, cumin seed and chilli (flakes) and cook over a medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent.
* Add the (cumin), coriander and garam masala and cook, stirring, over a medium heat for four minutes. (why four minutes?)
* Process the spinach (a bit), add the butter and process for long enough to melt the butter (a second or two), unless you've used finely chopped spinach to start with in which case, just drain it!
* Add the onion and garlic mixture, the spinach and parsley to the rice and season with salt and pepper.
* Press the rice into an oiled ring mold, cover tightly with foil and bake in a moderate oven (350º F/170ºC/gas 4) for 45 minutes.
* Turn out onto a serving dish (as if you need to be told!?)
"Note: the center of the ring can be filled with a savory mixture of leftovers" or, much nicer, chicken/quorn tikka massala!
